It was built by Ryan Homes in “record time” (only 72 days!), and we’ve been really happy with all aspects of our first home together. It’s the “Harpeth” plan. (I know when I was looking at new houses, it always helped to know which floor plan I was looking at.)

Why Franklin?

We chose to build in Franklin, Tennessee because the property values continued to appreciate and the outlook remained strong for this area.

Specifically: Williamson County was ranked the “9th wealthiest county in the U.S.” and the “3rd highest county in the U.S. for economic growth potential”. It is also strategically positioned within Nashville’s growth corridor (along I-65 the 840 outer loop, and the Mack Hatcher connector).

When we bought, there were 805 homes for sale in the town of Franklin (17 in our particular subdivision). Houses in Franklin ranged from $76,000 to $12.5 million (average $436,000).

In the end, the house we BUILT in Franklin, Tennessee cost us less per month than the house we were RENTING in Brentwood, Tennessee.

Our Favorite Things About Franklin, Tennessee

Every day we feel fortunate to live in the town of Franklin, Tennessee. It’s a small, quaint town with a very big community and family feel. It’s quite historic, and the town leaders have done a great job preserving Franklin’s past for us and future generations to enjoy!

For us, Franklin is just far enough away from the hustle and bustle of downtown metro Nashville, yet close enough to everything there is to see and do.

Franklin Cinema – a “draft-house” movie theater where you can kick your feet up on the benches in front of you or use them as a table for your pizza & beer or popcorn & soda that they serve on-site.

Natchez Trace – you can bike for days or drive for hours on this beautiful lightly-traveled stretch of road that runs from Tennessee to Mississippi.

Nacho’s Mexican Restaurant – where they know us by name and they treat us to XL drink glasses and special “sides”. Their one-of-a-kind entrees beat other Mexican restaurants’… hands down. (Juan and Beto… you rock!)

Chlay’s Thai Diner – a tiny, hole-in-the-wall diner that’s run by a brother & sister. If you want authentic Thai food at a reasonable price, check ’em out …they’re hidden between the liquor store and the video rental place in Independence Square.

Our Favorite Places In The Nashville Area

One of our favorite things about the city of Nashville is the fact that it’s a huge metropolitan city with lots of state-of-the-art resources and facilities, yet it still maintains that community-feel that gives Nashville its charm.

It’s not hard to get in and out of the city. In fact, you can get virtually anywhere within Tennessee in a day’s drive or less. And you can get to tons of other popular places outside of Tennessee within 8 hours or less.

And did you know that Tennessee touches 8 other states? That’s more than any other state in the Union. They say that 2/3rds of the country is within a 1-day drive of our state!

And, believe it or not, we live in the Bible belt… and Nashville is “the buckle”. In fact, there are more churches per capita in Nashville than in any other city in America. Guess it only makes sense that we finally found a great church that we actually look forward to going to!

I like to help people find unique ways to do things in order to save time & money -- so I frequently write about "outside the box" ideas that most wouldn't think of. As a lifelong dog owner, I often share my best tips for living with and training dogs. I worked in Higher Ed several years until switching gears to pursue things I was more passionate about. I've worked at a vet, in a photo lab, and at a zoo -- to name a few. I enjoy the outdoors via bicycle, motorcycle, Jeep, or RV. You can always find me at the corner of Good News & Fun Times as publisher of The Fun Times Guide (32 fun websites).

We really like their spacious floorplans and the overall quality of their homes. We had several meetings with both of those builders before we settled on Ryan Homes (mostly because we liked the neighborhood best at the time).

Shannon

Lynnette,

Thank you for the reply. I will check out those sites. My family and I will be visiting there in June to check it out before we make a final decision. Any suggestions for things to do with 4 kids?

http://thefuntimesguide.com/ FunTimesGuide

Hi Shannon,

Hope you and your family have a great time when you’re here in June.

Here are our best articles regarding things to do in the Nashville (and Brentwood and Franklin) area with kids:

Trying to convince my husband to move to Franklin from the Boston MA area…any extra info that just might tip the scale in my favor? Also what builders are currently building down there?? We’d likely be in the under 600K range…can’t imagine the difference in the house we can get for our money compared to in Massachusetts!! Also what is the winter weather like?

http://thefuntimesguide.com/ FunTimesGuide

Laneyomusic – The home builders that we like the best (large homes, large closets, practical floorplans) are: The Jones Company, Beazer, Phillips, Drees. We built with Ryan Homes and had a good experience, but don’t think they’re building in TN anymore. You’ll find plenty of NICE houses under $600K.
Winter weather has just enough of the “cold” and “snow” to make it feel like we’ve got 4 seasons here. We get more rain/ice than snow (usually) in the winter months. That said, this was a particularly long/cold/snowy winter 😀 It’s warm and Springlike now… does that count?
Bonus Tip: Nashville is pretty much 8 hours away from EVERYWHERE. So it’s less than a day’s drive to get just about anywhere you might want to be/visit!
You will LOVE Franklin – actually any of the communities just south of Nashville.